1954 Ford F-100 - One Fine Ford

Hunting for vintage tin is perhaps one of the most exciting facets of the classic truck or car hobby, and cruising country roads while peering into backyards, farmer’s fields, and old industrial complexes has always been a great way to spend some free time. It was like a game of hide-n-seek with rusty old pickups being both the playmate and the prize. These days though, thanks to the computer age, we can now cover nearly the whole USA while never leaving the comfort of our own homes or garages. Sites like eBay, Craigslist, and the H.A.M.B to name just a fraction allow us instant access to lots of possible rodstoration prospects—in fact, the good-lookin’ F-100 you see here is the culmination of one such electronic search.

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Brian Meadows has always been a car/truck guy and five or so years ago decided to build himself a cool classic pickup that he and his better half (Amanda) could use for pleasure cruising as well as haulin’ Brian’s race car parts. His search, like the larger majority these days, was undertaken from behind the keyboard of his PC. After perusing countless classic car and truck sites he finally found a pickup that turned his crank. He placed his bid and sat back fingers crossed hoping that in the end he would be the winning bidder, all the time planning the rodstoration of his find in his mind. Unfortunately, Brian was barely outbid by another lucky gent and was forced to begin his search again. As the days ticked by he continued his search on the web when one day he happened to see an ad for the very same ’54 F-100 he’d bid on weeks earlier. Not wanting to be out-bid again, Brian was a bit more generous this time and ended up as the happy new owner of a rather well-worn F-100. After a 24-hour round trip drive the couple returned home to Cedar Bluff, Virginia, with their fresh find and began the task of rodstoring their newly acquired F-100.

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Brian began the rebuild by grafting a Camaro front clip to the pickup’s original frame and replacing the rear suspension with a four-bar coilover setup. All new brake plumbing and a custom crossmember followed. Once the chassis was completely redone he slid a fresh Chevrolet LS1 V-8 backed by a 4L65E overdrive trans between the framerails. A custom driveshaft connected the fresh running gear to a GM 10-bolt. A quartet of Foose billet wheels wrapped in fresh rubber completed the pickups foundation.

Next, Brian turned his attention to the truck’s sheetmetal and with the help of the guys at Jim’s Body Shop the F-100 was carefully massaged back into pristine shape and covered with multiple glass-smooth coats of Performance Red urethane that just happened to match his race car perfectly. The interior then received as much attention as the running gear and body had and was freshened up with the addition of a tilt wheel, new gauges, air conditioning, and a fresh bench seat and door panels meticulously reupholstered in gray cloth by Boyd’s Upholstery.

Now that Brian and Amanda have the F-100 on the road they’re enjoying every minute behind the wheel, and although Brian says it’s not completely finished this fine Ford sure looks great to us. ct